Jump to content
Jonathon Gillham

Broken lipo - how to discharge?

Recommended Posts

Yesterday a car died while running and I assume it was the ESC.  Swapped the freshly charged shorty into another car and that didn't work.  Tried a different battery and both cars worked.  Using the multimeter it looks like the positive terminal has become disconnected from the rest.  I can test the voltage from the balance plug to negative which gives one cell at 4.14v, but if I try positive to negative its nothing, and the balance port to positive is nothing.

 

This is a Gens Ace shorty pack which has always been treated well as far as charging, storage etc goes, but has been used by my son for 3 years in his 10th offroad cars so its had a lot of knocks from crashes, not landing jumps etc.  I'm assuming that a connection has broken inside, but not keen to open it up to check.

 

I have no issue replacing it, but how do I discharge or dispose of it?  Unfortunately its almost fully charged (I'm guessing around 8.3v based on one cell) so I'm not keen to keep it around for much longer...its currently sitting outside on concrete in a fireproof bag

 

Any ideas?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Might not be the best advice but what I do is fill a bucket full of water with plenty of salt in it, then put the battery in there for a week or 2 and then bin them. Obviously ensure the bucket is well away from inflammables, just in case.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can you take it to your local recycling centre, or the closest large one to you?  They should have the facilites to dispose of it correctly.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
36 minutes ago, Silver-Can said:

Might not be the best advice but what I do is fill a bucket full of water with plenty of salt in it, then put the battery in there for a week or 2 and then bin them. Obviously ensure the bucket is well away from inflammables, just in case.

Will that work if the connections are already broken?

 

22 minutes ago, Twinfan said:

Can you take it to your local recycling centre, or the closest large one to you?  They should have the facilites to dispose of it correctly.

Good point, we must have those around here

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My local one is pretty big and they recycle CRT TVs, household and car batteries etc plus they dispose of used engine oil and anything else you want to get rid of.  I would think they could take a broken LiPo if I took it there and explained to the staff what it was  :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I used one of those little storage charge discharge dongles with a a jury rigged balance port adapter and alligator clips to take the sting out of some charged+puffing 3S lipos I found.

They were still feisty at storage charge so then power resistors or low wattage oven/automobile incandescent bulbs could take them right down. I wouldn't actually recommend the resistor or bulb because they get extremely hot so you want them on a stable, out of arms reach, and non flammable surface :mellow:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, Silver-Can said:

Might not be the best advice but what I do is fill a bucket full of water with plenty of salt in it, then put the battery in there for a week or 2 and then bin them. Obviously ensure the bucket is well away from inflammables, just in case.

Yes, bucket of water would be my choice as well.  In rural USA, place on dirt, fire one round into LiPo... flame away.  

  • Haha 5

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
15 hours ago, Twinfan said:

Can you take it to your local recycling centre, or the closest large one to you?  They should have the facilites to dispose of it correctly.

One by me, asked me to make sure it was flat (discharged)

 

One of mine went down to one cell ,when I reverse plugged it in, rushing for a final.

 

Split the casing (carefully...😦, actually split fairly easily tbh)

2019-11-26_10-14-26

 

Found the 2s voltage

 

20191119_100354

 

Fitted Croc clips ,and old school discharged,

20191119_102703

 

Once the light went out, check the voltage, considered 0.1v per cell flat (?) and took it to the recycle.

20191119_155621

 

  • Like 5

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Wooders28 said:

One by me, asked me to make sure it was flat (discharged)

 

One of mine went down to one cell ,when I reverse plugged it in, rushing for a final.

 

Split the casing (carefully...😦, actually split fairly easily tbh)

2019-11-26_10-14-26

 

Found the 2s voltage

 

20191119_100354

 

Fitted Croc clips ,and old school discharged,

20191119_102703

 

Once the light went out, check the voltage, considered 0.1v per cell flat (?) and took it to the recycle.

20191119_155621

 

Thanks for that, it looks like I'll need to give this a go.  The pictures really help too, I know what I'm looking for.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It was good decision to go for NiMh 😛

BTW: how bucket with salty water will work? What will happen? Battery will corrode or discharge because of salt?

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
59 minutes ago, skom25 said:

It was good decision to go for NiMh 😛

BTW: how bucket with salty water will work? What will happen? Battery will corrode or discharge because of salt?

My understanding is that it will discharge slowly over time due to low levels of conductivity caused by the salt in the water. I've done this a number of times without issue. Initially, you can actually see bubbles coming from one of the terminals as it (presumably) discharges. It was a tip a read on here many moons ago...

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, skom25 said:

It was good decision to go for NiMh 😛

BTW: how bucket with salty water will work? What will happen? Battery will corrode or discharge because of salt?

Lipo are the only battery chemistry I've not had go bang yet...(mainly, as I'm not blasé with them..)

Salt water conducts electricity ,so effectively, you're gently shorting it out, which discharges it with the safety of being in water.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
18 hours ago, Willy iine said:

Yes, bucket of water would be my choice as well.  In rural USA, place on dirt, fire one round into LiPo... flame away.  

Boom 💥 head-shot!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...